EPA Recognizes St. Mary's College of Maryland for Leading Green Power Use

St. Mary's College of Maryland announced today that for the first time it appears on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agencys Top 30 College & University list of the largest green power users. St. Mary's College is using more than 17 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) of green power annually, which is enough to meet 85 percent of the colleges electricity use. And, according to the U.S. EPA, that 17 million kWh of green power used by St. Marys College offsets the carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from the electricity use of nearly 2,000 average American homes annually.

We are proud to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, said St. Marys College President Tuajuanda Jordan. Using green power helps St. Marys become more sustainable. Supporting clean sources of electricity is a sound business decision and an important choice to help reduce by-products that adversely affect the climate and the environment.

In 2007 the colleges SGA, with input from the student body, voted to contribute an annual portion of student fees to purchase renewable energy certificates (RECs) from 3Degrees to channel funds to green power projects that mitigate the environmental impact of energy use. In addition, St. Mary's College is generating green power from an on-site solar energy system. This demonstrates a proactive choice to support cleaner renewable energy alternatives. This green power commitment also qualifies St. Mary's College for EPAs Green Power Leadership Club, a distinction given to organizations that have significantly exceeded EPAs minimum requirements.

We congratulate St. Mary's College of Maryland for increasing its use of green power and taking a leadership position on the environment, said James Critchfield, director of the Green Power Partnership, a program that encourages organizations to use green power. St. Mary's College of Marylands impressive green power commitment helps to reduce carbon pollution and provides an excellent example for other organizations.

Green power is electricity that is generated from environmentally preferable renewable resources, such as wind, solar, geothermal, biogas, eligible biomass, and low-impact hydro. Using green power helps accelerate the development of new renewable energy capacity nationwide and helps reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector.

Learn about St. Marys College of Marylands plan for campus climate neutrality by 2020: www.smcm.edu/sustainability/climate/

St. Mary's College of Maryland musician-in-residence Brian Ganz will give a full-length recital of works of Frédéric Chopin on Jan. 29 at 8 p.m. in St. Mary's Hall on the college campus. The program will be a preview of his next "Extreme Chopin" recital at the Strathmore Music Center in North Bethesda, part of his decade long project featuring the complete works of the great Romantic composer. The theme of the recital will be "The Art of the Mazurka." $15 general admission. For more information, call (240) 895-4498.

The mazurka is a Polish folk dance that originated in the region just outside of Warsaw, where Chopin grew up. "Chopin fills his mazurkas with so many marvelous elements of folk culture: exotic Polish folk modes, the sounds of folk instruments, the rhythmic gestures of the dance itself," said Ganz. "But even more than that, he fills the mazurkas with nostalgia for the homeland he loved so much but never returned to after he left at age 19. Longing, mystery, memory, these themes brought out incredible inspiration in Chopin. It may be why he wrote so many mazurkas. Well over 50!"

Mazurkas will not be the only genre on the program. The pianist will offer a polonaise, three waltzes, two nocturnes and a rondo Chopin composed at age 16, in addition to ten mazurkas. "Every piece on the program relates in some way to the mazurka theme, says Ganz. For example, the polonaise has a mazurka interlude, making it the only dance Chopin composed that is really two dances in one! One of the nocturnes has a mazurka section, but I won't tell the audience which one or at what point in the nocturne it takes place. I'll let them try to figure it out for themselves, sort of a musical 'Where's Waldo.' The Rondo is a virtuoso 'mazurka-fantasy' in rondo form."

Ganz began his Extreme Chopin quest to perform all of Frédéric Chopins works three and a half years ago. His sold out recital at the Music Center at Strathmore launched Ganzs ambitious endeavor to perform the approximately 250 works of Chopin over the next decade. The next concerts in the series will take place at Strathmore on Feb. 7 and 8, 2015.

Ganz has appeared as soloist with such orchestras as the St. Petersburg Philharmonic, the Baltimore and the National Symphonies, the City of London Sinfonia, and LOrchestre Philharmonique de Monte Carlo. He has performed in many of the worlds major concert halls and has played under the baton of such conductors as Leonard Slatkin, Mstislav Rostropovich, Pinchas Zukerman, Jerzy Semkow and Yoel Levi. A critic for La Libre Belgique wrote of Ganzs work: We dont have the words to speak of this fabulous musician who lives music with a generous urgency and brings his public into a state of intense joy.

Selma 65

On the cusp of the 50th anniversary of the Selma Voting Rights Movement, Bloody Sunday, and the Voting Rights Act, Selma 65, a new solo play from award-winning playwright Catherine Filloux, is set to perform for one night only on Friday, Jan. 30, at 8 p.m. in the Bruce Davis Theater on the St. Marys College of Maryland campus. Sponsored by the colleges Department of Theater, Film, and Media Studies, Selma 65 stars Marietta Hedges and is directed by Eleanor Holdridge. The performance of Selma 65 is free and open to the public. St. Marys College is located at 18952 E. Fisher Road, St. Marys City, Md., 20686. For reservations, contact 240-895-4243, or email reservations to boxoffice@smcm.edu.

About the play

On March 25, 1965, in the immediate aftermath of the final Selma-to-Montgomery March for voting rights in Alabama, a white woman named Viola Liuzzo, whod come from Detroit to attend the march, was driving fellow marchers and volunteers back and forth between the end of the march, the airport, and their homes. A young African-American man, Leroy Morton, was in the car with her. On a back road en route to Selma, Liuzzo was first pursued, then shot and killed by the Ku Klux Klan (Morton survived). One of the men in that car, Gary Rowe, was in fact an undercover FBI informant, who later entered Witness Protection (and took on the name by which hes known in the play, Tommy) after testifying at Liuzzos murder trial.

Those are the facts, as the FBI records of the case have it, that serve as the springboard for Fillouxs Selma 65, a play that juxtaposes Violas story with Tommys in an investigation of what might really have happened on that dark road on that dark night, from the perspectives of two of the players (played by the same actress). Leroy Morton and a number of other characters from both Violas life and Tommys are addressed in conversation, but do not appear in the play.

Selma 65 brings a virtually unknown story in US history to light, playwright Filloux says. In my story, I juxtapose the poetic with the brutal reality of violence and the individual moments of choice within the whirlwind of history.

For actress Hedges, The issues presented in Selma 65 are ones we are still dealing with almost 50 years later. In this so-called post-racial age, we have seen major portions of the voting rights act gutted alongside a well-organized backlash against African Americans and women. Enacting Viola Liuzzo¹ s story is the strongest way I have to address these issues.

In an effort to include the audience in a dialogue the play creates, the performance will offer a post-show discussion with playwright Filloux, performer Hedges, and members of the St. Marys College community. For further information about the performance, contact Mark Rhoda at 240-895-4231.

MOU Between St. Marys College and County Sheriffs Office Reinforces Commitment to Campus Safety

A newly amended memorandum of understanding (MOU) between St. Marys College of Maryland and the St. Marys County Sheriffs Office underlines the colleges commitment to the safety of its students, employees and visitors. The MOU, signed in December, outlines cooperative policies and responsibilities between the colleges Department of Public Safety and the Sheriffs Office related to criminal investigations on campus.

Leonard Brown, dean of students at St. Marys College, explains that the amended MOU is not a reactionary but proactive measure. The MOU is recommitting and strengthening the relationship between St. Marys College and the Sheriffs Office. We wanted to formalize ways the colleges Department of Public Safety and the Sheriffs Office support each other, share resources and work to maintain the most up-to-date protocols, especially related to Title IX.

The St. Mary's College Department of Public Safety maintains foot and vehicle patrol of the college campus 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The department is the primary agency for handling and investigating most on-campus crimes and incidents, pursuant to the MOU with the countys Sheriff's Office. The department also works to promote safety on campus through crime-prevention education and seminars offered to the entire campus community. Officers within the Department of Public Safety are trained to respond to a multitude of possible emergency situations and are the first to respond to any on-campus emergencies.

The MOU between St. Marys College and the countys Sheriffs Office is reviewed and amended as needed to uphold civil rights and to ensure compliance with federal and state laws, practices and procedures.